A Texas man wanted in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme involving the mansion once owned by a well-known ex-Dallas Cowboy has been arrested, Dallas CBS 11 News reported Monday.
Oltha Austin was arrested following a high-speed chase with the Irving, Texas, police, reports said.
Police told CBS 11 they had been looking for Oltha Austin Jr. for some time. Austin has been on the run since last August, according to prosecutors, when he was indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme that allegedly got him a more than $2 million Plano, Texas, mansion.
The mansion used to belong to former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders, according to reports.
“I think Mr. Austin has some explaining to do on the charges he faces,” Shamoil Shipchandler, assistant U.S. Attorney for Plano, told CBS 11.
Austin was indicted in August 2005 on one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. According to the indictment, Austin completed a mortgage application on behalf of his mother to purchase a property in Plano.
The indictment says that Austin falsely represented that his mother had a trust fund with a balance of $5.75 million with monthly disbursements of $115,000. According to the indictment, Austin signed the name of his mother to the loan application as her agent and attorney in fact and obtained a $2.03 million mortgage on her behalf.
After this took place, a Denver firm allegedly approved the loan to Austin’s mother, the indictment says.
Austin will appear in federal court again next month. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the two counts filed against him.
***
Send tips or a Letter to the Editor to janis@inman.com or call (510) 658-9252, ext. 140.
